JOAN VILLAPLANA (1976)
Multidisciplinary Artist. Doctoral researcher at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Barcelona. Master’s Degree in Artistic Production and Research from the University of Barcelona (branch of Art and Intermedia Contexts). Graduated from the Pompeu Fabra University in Humanities (branch of Thought). He also holds a diploma in Photography from GrisArt School, Barcelona.
He is sculpture’s technical teacher in the Fine Arts University of Barcelona and professor in the Master in Photography and Design in Elisava. He taught in the European Master of Fine Art Photography, Istituto Europeo di Design Madrid, and Idep Barcelona (Universitat Abat Oliva). He also taught philosophy of art in UniversiMés, the first university program in Spain aimed to intellectually disabled (Universitat Central de Catalunya) and he was adviser to A Bao A Qu, an extended educational project to include the visual language in schools, high schools art spaces and museums.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
2022 Image is ash. Convent de Sant Francesc, Santpedor
2019 I. Centre d’Art Contemporani i Sostenibilitat - CACiS, Calders
2018 I. Centre Cultural el Casino, Manresa
2018 In the Shadow of Two Shores. Instituto Cervantes, Shanghai
2017 In the Shadow of Two Shores. Instituto Cervantes, Beijing
2017 Metropolis. Cui Zhenkuan Art Museum, Xi'an
2015 In the Shadow of Two Shores. China International Photography Festival, Pingyao
2011 Metropolis. Col·legi d'Arquitectes de Catalunya, Vic
2008 Metropolis. Central European House of Photography, Bratislava
2008 Metropolis. Lumen Photography Fundation, Budapest
2006 Fondali Metropolitani. Galeria Lipoli&Lopez, Roma
2006 Metropolis. Hiriko irudiak. Euskal Herriko Arkitektoen Elkargo, Bilbao
2005 Metropolis. Escenaris urbans. Col·legi d’Arquitectes Catalunya, Manresa
2003 Interiors. Galeria Puigcerdà, Puigcerdà
GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2021 Sculpture Award. Fundació Vila Casas - Can Mario. Palafrugell
2019 FiC - ProdArt’19. Fabra i Coats - Centre d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona
2016 Theme Exhibition. Jinan International Biennial
2010 Thrown at the wall. CityArts, Dublin
2010 Kaunas Photo Festival
2010 PhotoEspaña 2010. Comunidad de Madrid / Sala el Águila, Madrid
2008 Twelve. Galerie La Traverse / Les Ateliers de l’image, Marseille
2008 All Inclusive. New Spanish Photography. China International Photography Festival, Pingyao
2007 All Inclusive. New Spanish Photography. Lodz Art Center, Lodz
2006 Import/Export. Centro Cultural de España, Guatemala Capital
2004 Making off. Escences reversibles. Centre Cultural el Casino, Manresa
2004 Descubrimientos. Museo Municipal de Arte contemporáneo, Madrid
FILM AND VIDEO PRODUCTIONS:
2014 A l'ombra de dues ribes (video instalation)
2011 Small World (Direction and screenplay). Feature film
2011 Sonates del misteri (video instalation)
2009 La Deixalleria (Photography Direction). 40'
2008 Camí imperial a l'harmonia suprema (video instalation)
LECTURES:
2018 Guest lecturer in Zhongyi School (Pequín)
2017 Lecturer in the III International Simposium about University Education in Photography, Pingyao (China)
2017 Guest Lecturer in the Nanjing University of Arts
2017 Lecture and Workshop “Beauty, Ugliness and the Sublime”, Art 23 Gallery (Guangzhou)
2017 Guest lecturer in Artbox School (Shanghai)
2017 Masterclass in Central Studios (Shanghai)
2016 Guest lecturer in the Fine Arts Academy, University of Tianjin
2016 Guest lecturer in the School of Art and Design, Xi’an University of Technology
2016 Guest lecturer in the School of Art and Design, Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication
2016 Guest lecturer in Inner Mongolia University
2016 Workshop “Image and Knowledge”, Three Shadows Art Centre de Pequín
2015 Conferenciant al I simposi internacional sobre l’educació superior en fotografia a
Pingyao (Xina)
2015 Lecturer in the I International Simposium about University Education in Photography, Pingyao (China)
2015 Guest lecturer in the Fine Arts Academy, University of Tianjin
AWARDS:
2021 Selected work. Sculpture Award, Fundació Vila Casas
2021 Art Creation Grant, Fundació Guasch Coranty
2018 TAV-CC Biennial Award
2014 Nova Església. Performance Award Tendències, Regió 7
2010 Research and Creation Grant for the project Mystery Sonatas, National Council for the Arts and Letters, Catalan Government
2008 Research and Creation Grant for the project In the Shadow of Two Shores, Entitat Autònoma de Difusió Cultural, Catalan Government
2008 Notable nominee for the Photobook Award, The New York Photo Festival
2007 Production Grant for the book Metropolis, Entitat Autònoma de Difusió Cultural, Catalan Government
2004 Oficial Selection Descubrimientos, Festival Internacional de Fotografía y Artes Visuales PHotoEspaña
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Villaplana, Joan. Metropolis. Barcelona: 2008.
Ferenc, Tomasz; Studzinska, Joanna (ed.). Swiatlo i Mrok. Eseje o fotografii hiszpanskiej. Lódz: Fundacja Edukacji Wizualnej, 2007
Foto Festiwal. 6th International Festival of Photography in Lodz. Lodz Art Center, 2007
Neumüller, Moritz (Ed.). Import/Export. Guatemala: Centro Cultural de España, 2006
Domènech, Xavier; Villaplana, Joan. Manresa Viva. Manresa: Angle Editorial, 2002
He has worked in projects about the Spanish Civil War along the Ebro River, the borders of the Spanish exile, the emigration from Guatemala and nowadays he is working about the music by John Cage and Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber researching links between music, video and picture.
He has also contributed in newspapers and magazines as Le Monde Diplomatique (Lisboa), La Vanguardia (Barcelona), Financial Times Deutschland (Hamburg), The Wall Street Journal (New York), Il Corriere della Sera (Milano), Prensa Libre (Guatemala), Etiqueta Negra (Lima), On Diseño (Barcelona) and Surface (New York).